Lasting-machine



FIPBSIO (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. W. COPELAND & J. E. CRISP.

LASTING MACHINE.

No. 329,283. Patented Oct. 27,1885.

N. PErERs mmutm ben wmmn tm. [1C4 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. I G. W. COPELAND 8: J. E. CRISP.

LASTING MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 27, 1885.

(No Model.)

W ITNEEEEE- UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. COPELAND, OF MALDEN, AND JOSEPH E. CRISP, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS.

LASTlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 329,283, dated October 27, 1885. Application filed September 1, 1885. Serial No. 175,886. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. COPE- LAND, of Maldeu, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and J o- 5 SEPH E. CRISP, of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lasting-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this specification, in exlaining its nature.

The object of this invention is the production of a simple, effective, and inexpensive mechanism for lasting boots and shoes. It has been found by experience that in girth lasting-machines reliance must after all be placed upon pinchers in the hand of the operator to draw the upper at certain points, while the girth and girth-straps really serve chiefly to hold the upper firmly to the point on the last to which it has been drawn by hand. The machine to be described in this specification permits the same use of pinchers, while it employs straps which, though they do not anywhere touch the median line of the boot or shoe, aid in drawing the upper and securely hold it against the side of the last and corner of the insole. The shoe is prepared for this machine in the usual manner, preferably by drawing the upper properly over the toe of the last, (the insole having been first placed in position,) and then securing the part thus drawn over the center of the toe of the last to the insole by one or two fastenings. The shoeis then adjusted in the machine.

' We do not confine ourselves 'in'this application and description to any special means of holding the shoe, but may resort to any of the well-known methods employed for this purpose in lasting-machines.

The invention consists, mainly, in the use of straps made fast at one end to springs, while the other end of the straps is connected with a foot-treadle. If these straps were connected with a treadle such as is ordinarily used, it is obvious that the workman would hardly be able to operate the machine without the aid of power, for he would be obliged in last- 0 ing each shoe to add the force necessary to draw every succeeding strap to that required to hold down those previously drawn; and it is one of the principal features of this invention to so construct a strap lasting-machine that the workman, after having drawn up the upper-leather at one or more points, should be able by means of the straps to turn it over the insole and securely hold it there-and then proceed to draw up other parts of the upper, and by means of other straps turn these parts over the insole and hold them in a similar manner-till all of theparts of the upper (from a point near the toe to the heel) which it is desirable to turn over the insole have been manipulated and secured by sueeessive straps put in tension by a continuous pressure of the treadle, and it is desirable that the workman should be able to perform these operations easily and conveniently. To effect this result a treadle of peculiar construction has been made. This treadle enables the operator to draw down strap after strap, single or in pairs, till they have all been put in tension, without exerting any more power at any time than would be required to draw down a single strap or a pair of straps, as the-case may be.

The invention consists, further, in mechanism to hold the straps away from the shoe and from the place the shoe is to occupy when they are not acting upon the upper, and also to prepare for the easy introduction and withdrawal 'of the last, with the upper thereon, before and after the lasting process.

This machine, in our opinion, possesses advantages over any strap or girth machine heretofore constructed. It is of course very de sirable to dispense with power when it can be done without disadvantage. In this machine the fact that the strap can be drawn as desired renders the use of any other than foot-power wholly unnecessary. The means aii'orded the workman to use the straps in succession, instead of all at once, enable him, if he has insufficiently or imperfectly drawn over the upper at a given place, to go back and correct what is wrong without releasing the straps which hold down parts previously and properly drawn over.

Further important advantages of the inachine herein described are its simplicity of construction, its freedom from liability to get out of order, and its small cost. To these may be added the fact that in a machine of this character it is obvious that fine work can be done better where each strap is controlled by the foot of theoperator than where all the straps are drawn over at once and by power.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved machine, showing the method of connecting the straps with a treadle which operates them successively. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a plan thereof. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the top,

of the machine, partially in section, showing by full lines one pairof straps held in position to receive or permit the withdrawal of the boot or shoe before or after the lasting thereof, the dotted lines showing the straps after they have been used to draw the upper close to the side of the last and over the corner or edge of the insole preparatory to fastening.

Our invention is an improvement upon the strap-machine for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 28,120 were granted to \Villiam \Vells, May 1, 1860, and as in the mechanism of our invention the operation of any number of straps it may be desirable to employ is in all respects similar, in the illustration of our invention we shall confine our description to one pair of straps, as shown in Fig. 4.

A represents any suitable frame or support made to carry the devices described for supporting and operating the straps. a represents the straps, with one end made fast to a suitable spring, a, secured at a". The straps are passed under the guide-bars a if desired; or the springs may be made fast directly under the guide-bars a with substantially the same effect upon the strap. The straps then pass up the sides of the last and across the insole thereon, over the rollers 11, and then down to the treadle F, which by its movement strains the straps against the sides of the last and over the edges or corners of the insole. The rollers b are so positioned with reference to the toe and heel supports that at all times the parts of the straps which pass across the insole are drawn from the edge or corner of the insole .to the opposite side when the straps are under strain at such an inclination or angle with the insole that the upper upon the opposite side is left so that it can be readily manipulated, and is not interfered with by said strap. By this construction the upper is only held close to the insole at the side of the last, and the adjacent edge or corner over which it is drawn, leaving nearly all of the upper, except that part near the edge or corner of the insole, to be laid close to the insole by the fastening process. The arrangement thus far described leaves a portion of the straps always above the bottom of the insole, and if no other mechanism were used the straps would, when not in tension, fall together and render the introduction of the shoe a slow and tedious process. We have therefore provided the straps with loops at a, through which loops is passed the spreading-bar (1- These bars a drawing the loops when desired in the proper direction, cause a bight in the straps on opposite the corner or edges of the last or insole, thus holding the straps distended sufficiently to permit the easy passage of aboot or shoebetween them to the toe rest or support. To produce the movements of the bars a. which result as above described, the bars are fixed on one end of bell-crank levers O, whieh'are pivoted at D. Upon the other ends of the same levers O are fixed the rods a", and to the rods 0. are secured the springs (1. These bell-crank levers are moved from one position to the other by the cams attached to the handle E. The movement of the ends of these levers 0 causes the straps to move around the guide-bars a without straining the springs, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 4. The loop of course will cause the part of the strap to which it is attached to be drawn, as shown by the full lines, thus making room for the introduction of another unlasted shoe. To cause the several straps to move at the desired times, they are attached, as shown, Figs. 1 and 2, to the treadle F. In the machine here shown and described the treadle F is constructed to operate the straps from shank to toe, drawing first the shank-straps, and then the straps near the toe, and last the straps near the center. It is obvious that it is easy to, arrange the treadle so that the straps may be .drawn in any desired order. This treadle, taken as a whole, is composed of the swinging lever F, pivoted at F, and provided with the U- shaped notches-F and F, and the segmental parts above said slots, as shown, and moves between the guide-plates F on each side of it.v In these guide-plates are the slots F F, which, during a part of the downward motion of the treadle F, hold the round pins F F and their attachments in the U-shaped notches, and at theproper time switch these pihs out, so that they may be held under strain by the segmented parts of treadle F above alluded to, until the return motion of treadle F picks them up and returns them to the starting-point. Fig.1 shows F fully depressed, and will make evident the whole operation of the treadle F in its movement by the guide-plates. It will also show how any number of straps maybe moved in any predetermined succession.

The operation of our improved machine is as follows: The upper and insole, properly placed upon the last, are introduced endwise between the straps a, held as shown by the full lines, Fig. 4. The lever E is moved downward, carrying and locking the bellcrank levers O and their attachments to the positions shown by. the dotted lines. The lever E may be moved either by hand or it may be connected with the treadle, in which latter case it will receive its motionfrom the first part of the downward movement of the treadle F. The movement of treadle F then draws the straps, as before described, the operator IIO using his pinchers, as he may find it necessary, to draw up and tighten the upper about the last preparatory to putting. a holding-strain upon the parts of the upper thus suificiently drawn by the means of the tension of strap or straps designed to hold these parts, so that when the treadle F has been fully depressed the upper, from the toe to the heel, is all drawnup and turned over the edge of the insole in a proper manner and is ready to be fastened. After such fastening, raising the treadleF and reversing E puts the mechanism in position to remove the shoe just finished and begin another.

Having thus described our invention and 4 the operation of the machine, what we claim,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a strap lasting-machine, the straps a, permanently secured at both ends, and mechanism, substantially as described, for holding the upper portions of said straps at all times above the plane of the insole, substantially as described and set forth.

2. In a strap lasting-machine, in combination with the straps a, the bell-c1ank levers O and lever E, whereby the straps a are made ready for the reception or removal of a boot or shoe, substantially as described.

3. In a strap lasting-machine, the combination of. the straps a with the treadle Fand intermediate connecting mechanism, whereby thestraps are tightened and held in succession,

- substantially as descr ib ed,and for the purposes set forth.

to the last, with springs at 4. In astraplasting=machine, a treadle com- 3 5 of the treadle F, substantially as described, and 0 for the purposes set forth.

5. In a strap lasting-machine, in combination with a treadle adapted to be oscillated about a fixed pivot, a series of connectingrods with a series of straps attached thereto, said rods hooked to said treadle, and a series of switching-guides engaged with the joint between the treadle and the connecting rods, which retain the said joint in engagement with the treadle during a part of its movement and switch it out of connection with the treadle, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a strap lasting-machine, the combination of the straps which fit and hold the upper one end, a movable tightening-treadle at the other end, and a de vice for spreading the bight of the straps near the corners of the last, substantially as and for the purposes described.

GEO. W. COPELAND. J OS. E. CRISP.

Witnesses:

E. P. BUNYEA, E. PHILLIPS. 

